Writers

Ilan Ben Zion
Ilan Ben Zion is a news editor at The Times of Israel. He holds a Masters degree in Diplomacy from
… [More]Tel Aviv University and an Honors Bachelors degree from the University of Toronto in Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, Jewish Studies, and English. [Less]

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Two Syrian citizens injured Wednesday morning in fighting between rebels and government forces near the Israeli border were evacuated by IDF troops to an Israeli hospital after receiving medical care from Israeli army personnel at the border.

One of the men died of his wounds en route to Ziv Medical Center in the northern city of Safed, a hospital spokesperson told The Times of Israel. The second was hospitalized in moderate condition with shrapnel injuries.

According to the hospital, the men received medical treatment from the IDF before being airlifted to the hospital from the Syrian border.

The hospital reported that 16 Syrian citizens have been treated to this date since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war two years ago. Three Syrians, including the patient admitted on Wednesday, remain hospitalized at Ziv.

The Local Coordination Committees of Syria reported heavy artillery fire early Wednesday targeting the Syrian village of al-Samdaniyeh, located in the demilitarized zone separating the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights from Syria. It was not clear whether the two incidents were related.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon on Monday confirmed for the first time that Israel is operating a field hospital on the Syrian border. He said the IDF was transferring severely wounded Syrian nationals to Israeli hospitals for treatment. Initial reports of an IDF field hospital in the Golan Heights surfaced in February.

“Our policy is to help in humanitarian cases, and to that end we are operating a field hospital along the Syrian border,” Ya’alon told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. “In cases where there are badly wounded, we transfer them to Israeli hospitals. We have no intention of opening refugee camps.”

The IDF has kept secret the identity and number of Syrian nationals treated in Israel.